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T O P I C R E V I E W
birdof1977
Posted - 27 Feb 2010 : 05:34:43 AM I was just picking up my children from school yesterday, when my YM phoned to say, she was going to have to call the vet out for Zar. The horses on the yard have had to be kept stabled this week due to flooding on the fields. Zar is stablednext to a pony that bites, and he is often caught with his head over the wall at him, winding him up, and occasionally gets caught with a little nip of the said pony. I had arranged for a partition to be built up between the walls to stop this happening. Anyway, ths blooming pony has managed to rip a massive flap of skin off of Zar's face, about 2 inches wide, and 5 inches long:(
Not a happy bunny. The bloomin vet was going to cut it off, but luckily, just before I arrived, the YM insisted that it was stitched back up. Bless her. Her words were, he's not a show jumper, he's a show pony! So make sure you do a good job!. LOL As it goes, this was meant to be our first season. His schooling was coming along lovely, his condition the same, and now this! He's got to be kept in for at least another week, and can't be ridden until it has completely healed due to where it is :( Right on the lower half side of his face, between the cheek and the lips. Poor little man, he was looking so sorry for himself last night. Didn't put him off his food though, so thats something I suppose.
I did take some pictures of the injury, but, They are quite Gory. Made my stomach turn
10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)
birdof1977
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 1:27:46 PM Well Zar's face is (touch wood) on the mend nicely now. It doesn't look half as bad as it did. It has stopped weeping. The pony next door is now in prison. Bless him, so that's sorted. And the wall inbetween the stables is going to be built higher to stop them poking their noses over.
Hopefully he will continue to mend nicely, and not scar too much.
Thanks for the advice about the Aloe gel. At the moment I have been told not to put anything on it, or even to bath it until it has properly healed, but I will be putting it on once the stitches are removed. I hear its very good at minimising scarring.
I also think it's nice of the girl to offer, as many people would've have. And very generous of you to refuse.
Wyllow
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 1:02:20 PM Poor Zar,
Hoping he mends fast!
Best wishes for a swift recovery.
nikki
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 12:04:00 PM aww bless him, poor zar, hope he heals really quickly. i think that was good of the kid to a least offer to pay half, and i think thats really nice that you refused.
Could you put a rail up and hang some rugs over it, or use baler twine short term to stop the naughty pony from biting him until it's properly sorted?
suyents
Posted - 27 Feb 2010 : 7:52:57 PM Put lots of aloe vera on it, keep it moist so that it can heal, and it will!! :)
Claire
Posted - 27 Feb 2010 : 2:52:50 PM very sorry to read about Zar's face, if its any consolation my boy cut his face open (self inflicted- he's extremely accident prone!) right near his cheek bone, I nearly fainted when I saw it but my lovely vet stitched it up and it healed very quickly and even in his summer coat when he's just got 'mole skin' in that area you can't see a scar so I'm sure he'll be back to normal in no time x
birdof1977
Posted - 27 Feb 2010 : 07:49:38 AM Thanks for your well wishes. Hopefully he will mend quite quickly, he usually does, it is in an awkward place though, and every time he moves his jaw to eat it opens up again, and the vet said he's rather not dress it because of where it is :( He is terrible for rubbing his head on things, so I just hope that he doesn't rub the stitches out. All of his rubbing spots have been covered with rugs, and he's now having his hay from the floor to prevent him rubbing on the haynet, as he does this a lot too.
If he does open it up, he will have to have the loose flap removed as it will have died.
I wish I could move him to another stable, but there just aren't any free. The owner of the pony has now been told, under no uncertain terms that she has to put bars up on his door, or muzzle him. He has already bitten 2 children and another adult on the yard, not badly, but enough to leave nasty marks. She was told then to do something about it, but didn't. In some ways it is Zars fault for trying to play with the pony, (that is just his nature), but the pony never has any bites on him, so ??? The owner did offer to go halves on the vet bill, but she is a youngish girl, and I know she doesn't have a lot of money, and works very hard to afford her pony, so I said that I would cover it this time. But she has been told, by myself and the YM, that if she doesn't get the bars up this weekend, and it happens again, she will have to foot the bill for not doing anything to prevent it happening. Doesn't bear thinking about, but what if it had been a child
moatside
Posted - 27 Feb 2010 : 07:23:36 AM Poor Zar - hope he mends quickly.
saddlebred
Posted - 27 Feb 2010 : 07:09:14 AM Poor Zar. That sounds like quite a nasty bite. Why do they never learn to stay away from horses who dont like them. Although I guess he was just trying to entertain himself with not being able to go out.
Head wounds heal up really quick and hopefully shouldnt scar. My little boys pony ran full pelt int a rail and split her head open from ear to ear. It needed 50 stitches but it was healed within 4 weeks and you wouldnt know it had happened now. I hope the same will happen with Zar so that your show season wont be stalled.
Must have not been very nice for your YO either, or for the owner of the pony. You cant really train them not to bite other horses.
Goldenmane
Posted - 27 Feb 2010 : 06:51:45 AM Oh poor Zar. Hope he can be moved so he's not next to the biting pony. I had a similar incident once and had to say the cheek healed amazingly quickly.
